


A Million Worlds Apart

by JustYourAverageNerd, TimeToTravel



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, COVID-19, Coronavirus, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Multi, Pandemic - Freeform, RWRB Zoom College AU, This takes 'but we're a million worlds apart' to a new level, Warning: Because this is an RWRB Corona Timeline thing it is politically charged, Zoom Bashing, and they were ROOMMATES, but it's also, or at least a sad attempt at humor, quarantine au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:42:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28545030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustYourAverageNerd/pseuds/JustYourAverageNerd, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimeToTravel/pseuds/TimeToTravel
Summary: Alex and Henry had many regrets, but they swore that this one could be blamed entirely on one thing: the fucking coronavirus. The virus that had sent the entirety of 2020 askew and had led to them being there, in a Historical Research class they'd taken to prevent the never ending monotony of the year. Neither of them had expected to see each other, but with their current luck, it wasn't exactly a surprise.In which Alex and Henry's post Cakegate plans become pandemic friendly, and Henry becomes the very definition of gay panic. Henry isn't very subtle, but Alex continues to be an oblivious idiot.Welcome to the 5th stage of pandemic hell in this fluff and crack filled RWRB Zoom College AU.
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz & June Claremont-Diaz, Alex Claremont-Diaz & Nora Holleran, Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Beatrice Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor & Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor & Percy "Pez" Okonjo, Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor & Philip Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, June Claremont-Diaz/Nora Holleran, June Claremont-Diaz/Nora Holleran/Percy "Pez" Okonjo, June Claremont-Diaz/Percy "Pez" Okonjo, Nora Holleran/Percy "Pez" Okonjo
Comments: 6
Kudos: 48





	1. Alex Breaks The Internet

**Author's Note:**

> A couple clarifications, while this world is nearly identical to the one we are in currently, a couple things have changed simply because a) the Claremont Administration is in power instead of the Trump Administration and b) just for the sake of continuity and to make sure Alex and Henry weren’t in a relationship already. Here’s a rough timeline (avoiding most of the fanfic plot though) to help make things clear:
> 
> January 2020- WWIII threats, Australia on fire, Henry transfers to UT Austin for his second semester (he claims it’s because Brexit became a thing and he couldn’t wait to yeet himself out of that mess only for there to be a pandemic preventing him from going in person)  
> February 2020- Cakegate and the lockdown  
> March 2020- The Toilet Paper Crisis ™, online schooling, stock market crashes  
> April 2020- The usual COVID shebang, Alex decides to take Historical Research over the summer because of the usual COVID shebang  
> May 2020- Murder hornets, Alex helps BLM movements as they begin  
> June 2020- This story begins, Alex and Henry begin their Historical Research class  
> July 2020: The course is completed, Historical Research Class Zoom Celebration  
> August 2020- California wildfires, Anti-Maskers become a thing and Alex makes a TikTok about why masks are important*  
> September 2020- Online schooling became a mandatory option for schools to have, some colleges (including UT) allowed for students to choose if they wanted to be in person or online and allowed students to live on campus again  
> October 2020- More of the general COVID bullshit, #juneandnorasimpnation made a resurgance on Twitter, Halloween happened on a blue moon  
> November 2020- The 2020 Election: Ellen Claremont vs. Donald Trump  
> December 2020: COVID-19 vaccine
> 
> *(ID of a TikTok found on @beloved_claremont-diaz’s profile published on August 10:
> 
> [The video opens on Alex, standing in his room. In his hand, there’s a mask and a spray gun. 
> 
> “Okay, I’m not sure who needs to hear this, but mask wearing is important. The government isn’t controlling you, there is no reason why the government would want people to wear masks unless it’s for the safety of all citizens. Since COVID-19 is transferred through respiratory droplets, a mask is necessary to barricade our respiratory droplets from reaching others. See?” 
> 
> Alex holds out the mask and spray gun to the screen, spraying water through the inside of the mask. No water comes out the outside of the mask. 
> 
> The video cuts out, the handle @beloved_claremont-diaz flashed across the screen.])

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day of online summer classes should have gone relatively smoothly (or about as smoothly as things could be in online school could be), but with Alex's luck? Neverrrrr.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter stars (has images of):  
> Michael Cimino as Alex Claremont-Diaz  
> and Misc. Memes as Twitter Profiles
> 
> Guest Starring:  
> My Coding Skills (a.k.a. Copy Pasting Base Code From Ao3 Coding Guide)

Alex let out a sigh, leaning back in his chair. 

“Alex, I love you, but I swear, if you sigh one more time, I will murder you in cold blood.” June’s head peeked over the doorframe of the East Wing, probably exasperated after hearing Alex’s sighs for the past hour. He spun in his chair to face her. 

“Look, I thought the White House is paying for high-speed Internet, but I guess not considering I’ve been stuck on the same loading page for the past half hour.” 

June took that as an answer, heading back to the door opposing him. Alex turned back to the still loading computer screen, unable to hold back the itching annoyance. 

To be completely fair, his class didn’t start for another hour anyway, but that wasn’t the problem. Alex could feel energy building, waves of nerves falling over him to a quick, heavy beat. The White House had been in quarantine along with the rest of the world for 3 months now, and Alex was eager to do something. Anything. 

The feeling wasn’t unfamiliar to Alex, the overwhelming need to do something, and quarantine wasn’t exactly helping. The days had passed with a similar cadence, each morning spent diligently analyzing the Texas case file he definitely wasn’t supposed to have still lying amongst the papers to prepare for the Historical Research class he’d decided to take over the summer, each afternoon spent organizing campaigns for his mom. He was out on the weekends often, doing the best he possibly could to help organize BLM movements, participate in them. The nights had blurred into mornings, sleep becoming an unfortunate necessity. Alex didn’t truly mind it though, the workload helped keep his mind steady and he knew he was helping, but the never ending monotony got to him. 

Begrudgingly, Alex pulled his phone out of his back pocket, mindlessly scrolling through TikTok. Alex hadn’t meant to download a TikTok, nor post anything, but he fully blamed the royal wedding in February for beginning his crippling addiction to the app. He was young, wasted, and glaring at none other than Prince Henry George Edward James Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor when Nora had cruelly swiped his phone (fine, he handed it to her, but that was a technicality) and made the fateful video which began his eventual descent into the chaos of alt TikTok. The thing that confused Alex the most was that the video wasn’t even that entertaining; it was literally him just sitting there whilst glaring at Henry and June dancing, and subsequently taking a large swig from the champagne glass next to him. 

And then Cakegate happened, sparking the next threat of war not even a month after the World War III threat of January 2020. So yeah, to say that he nearly caused another international disaster through a cake was not an exaggeration. Zarah and President Mom were ready to kick his ass to Mars, though they’d eventually settled on a European press tour to prove that Alex and Henry were buds. A tour, might he add, which was cancelled due to the the fucking global pandemic currently happening. 

And so, here he was, a week into June after what felt like 84 years, having started a still unresolved international scandal, having developed an obsession with Baby Yoda and the Mandalorian, all the while taking an extra course over the summer to pass the time. 

Alex glanced at the top of his phone screen. 7:59. A minute until class started. He looked at the waiting room page on his laptop, the small bit of text flashing once more before he was accepted into the classroom. 

Professor Johnson was sitting at his desk, a Starbucks in his hand, tweed jacket askew. 

“Hey, y’all, sorry I’m a bit late; traffic was a nightmare. Right, so back to the regular introductory stuff.” The professor had a noticeable drawl, common within the region Alex was so familiar with. Scanning his eyes through the pages of students in boxes over the screen, Alex lets the generic introductory speech fade into the background. 

Alex’s eyes darted to the corner. There, on the top right corner of the third page, amongst nearly 15 other dead college students, was none other than the prince of fucking England himself: Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor. 

Alex leaned against his chair and let out a groan. Out of all the classes, out of all the schools, he had to be in the same one as his self proclaimed adversary. Of course he’d heard “The Prince Transfers to Local American College???” on at least 5 different magazine covers, but he certainly hadn’t been expecting Henry to be transferring to UT. Based off of his perfectly bland list of interests as well, Alex hadn’t been prepared to see him in a Historical Research class in the summer of what was possibly the worst year in existence either. 

According to the New York Times circa 2016, HRH Prince Henry was, “ready to begin his degree in International Affairs,” at Cambridge University. Apparently, one could not trust magazine articles from 4 years ago. Alex realized how illogical that sounded, but honestly? He was functioning on half a brain cell on a good day and he blamed it all on the topic he seemingly always came back to: the goddamn coronavirus. 

Alex rubbed his eyes (to clear his head, or to poke his eyeballs out? Alex didn’t know, there was a very real possibility that it could be both) before moving on to the speech that had almost become background noise to him. 

“Yada, yada, yada, you get the gist,” Professor Johnson continued in what Alex would consider the most excitable tone he’d heard in a while. “Anyway, back to the class at hand, welcome to Historical Research ‘cause I know half of y’all blacked out while choosing this class to take over the summer, but you’re still stuck with me, my dudes. Helping me out for this dreadfully long summer will be my TA, Arin Chakrabarti.” 

A screen lit up, revealing a handsome young man around the same age as Alex. Well, okay then. 

“Hey y’all, I’m Arin Chakrabarti, but please just call me Arin. I’m here to help y’all with anything you need for this riveting, month long course.” He continued talking for a little longer, elaborating on all the details of this course before passing the speaker view to Professor Johnson once more. 

“Right, so, I realize that we have an actual curriculum set in place, so unfortunately we’ll have to learn the stuff we gotta, but I also realize that no one really wants to spend 8 hours a day listening to a lecture (and I don’t want to grade those lectures), so we’re going to be working on a group project for most of this class,” Professor Johnson did little jazz hands. “I know you’ve read the Iliad and the Odyssey, but in case y’all haven’t, let’s go over some key terms and stories. We’ll be holding a socratic seminar in three days, but after that, y’all’ll be assigned groups to finish the aforementioned mystery project for the rest of the semester.” 

Arin pressed a key, revealing a PowerPoint presentation on Homer’s epics. The tales were rather interesting, especially with the addition of a new narrator addressing all the characters as “ma homeric homies,” although perhaps it was the enthusiastic, “context clues, baby!” while discussing the etymology of the words odyssey and iliad. 

Needless to say, the next three days passed with a breeze. Alex should have known something was wrong immediately, but he was too busy enjoying the act of actually doing something for once. Yeah, sure, Alex used the class as a distraction, but that’s what summer courses were for, right? Regardless, Alex got into the comfortable rhythm of sitting in the swivel chair on his desk in the East Bedroom of the White House. Behind the screen of his laptop, he could see the corner of his Henry-shaped dartboard pockmarked with holes. He'd almost forgotten the impending project to be revealed that day. 

“Hello!” Arin spun in his chair, grabbing the desk in front of him to steady himself. “Today y’all’ll be getting your group assignments and finally find out about your topic. Professor Johnson will be grading your seminars, so I have the pleasure to reveal the project on: your Ancient Civilizations Hot Takes.” The last phrase was emphasized through hand gestures, as though a sign were in front of Arin. “So, yeah, head to y’all’s breakout rooms, I’ll be rotating through them if you need me.” 

And then began the summer long presentation project that had, at least at the time, felt like a prank fit for the year 2020. In a classroom out of nearly 50 kids, what even were the odds that the two “rival” children of world leaders were placed in the same breakout room?

“5%! 78% if you factor in your current track record of ‘trouble finding you’!” Nora yelled out as she passed Alex’s room, June at her side probably saying something about it being better odds than she thought. Evidently, he had been speaking out loud, the display on his screen bordered with a glowing rim and the annoying message stating that he was muted and should press Ctrl A to unmute himself made itself known. With a calm, charming smile, Alex promptly pressed the button to exit the main room and into the breakout room. Clearly the universe had decided to continue its game of international crisis bingo because those 5% odds quickly turned into 100%. 

And there he was, in a breakout room for a college summer course, Prince Henry, in the flesh- over Zoom, whatever- with a blank smile. His eyes shone with the same polite indifference as always, lacking in even a semblance of personality. Ever a literal prince charming. The itching annoyance settled on Alex again. At least his royal highness was out of a suit for this occasion, opting instead for a plain button down, having even the top one buttoned. Alex thought he saw a glimpse of golden wrist cuffs on Henry’s wrists. It’s horrible. 

“Alex,” Henry said with a stupidly handsome smile. “I was wondering if I’d have the honor of meeting you this soon.”

Matching Henry’s grin with his own, Alex replied. “The honor is all mine, your majesty.”

Alex couldn’t help but notice the similarities of this conversation and the one they’d had back in January, the one that had led to the international cake scandal and would have led him to a fake best friend thing with Henry if not for England going into quarantine the following day. 

It appeared that Henry had noticed too, stating the following. “This conversation is remarkably similar to the one we had last time, albeit with less wine this time.” 

“Thank god that there isn’t another $75,000 wedding cake for you to knock me into this time, otherwise you might’ve gotten a personality.” 

“Ah, but at least your obsession with me hasn’t lessened due to quarantine.” 

“I’m still not obsessed with you.” 

Okay, yeah, maybe Alex had lowkey stalked Princess Beatrice’s TikTok page, a page in which Henry made a regular appearance, ever the model royal, though Alex could swear that the glint in Henry’s eyes at the moment was reflected in some of those short videos. Alex thought he caught a glimpse of two other people in the room, their eyes darting back and forth between the two political icons as if they were watching an intense tennis match, but he was too intent on glaring at Henry to notice. Alex could almost see the cogs turning in Henry's brain and for the first time since Alex had known him, he did something unexpected. 

“Fine, I dare you to compile a list of why you dislike me. Perhaps then you’ll finally realize the extent of this issue, Alex dear.”

~*^*~

TotallyNotAJuneandNoraSimp  
@100%ajuneandnorasimp

Due to personal reasons (ahem, June and Nora’s casual dissing of Alex in the middle of a Zoom class), I will be rESPECTFULLY SIMPING

8:14 AM · June 12, 2020

* * *

**23.3K** Retweets **924** Quote Tweets **72.1K** Likes

* * *

* * *

TheRealPotato  
Replying to @ 100%ajuneandnorasimp

Fae, I’ll be joining you in your simping journey as I, too, may be in love with June and Nora’s appearances on Zoom

5 6 2

* * *

1-800-SIMPING  
Replying to @100%ajuneandnorasimp 

Yesssss, more people that have the June and Nora appreciation

3 4 9

* * *

IDontKnowWhatToDo  
Replying to @100%ajuneandnorasimp

If you guys like june and nora, wait til you find out about princess beatrice’s tiktok because she’s a literal queen (no pun intended)

8 3 7

* * *

TotallyNotAJuneandNoraSimp  
Replying to @idontknowwhattodo

Dude, drop the @ 

9 3 2

* * *

IDontKnowWhatToDo  
Replying to @100%ajuneandnorasimp

it's @rebellionfuckyeah

1 7 4

* * *

ArsonIsOkay(ASmolPyromanic)  
Replying to @idontknowwhattodo

I heard she wasn’t allowed to create it at first, but did anyway [gif-of-person-putting-on-sunglasses.pdf]

1 2 0

~*^*~

ConfusedPanromantic  
@ashweta

Dudes, so my group mates in my Historical Research class are arguing like an old married couple, and I-

9:29 AM · June 12, 2020

* * *

**372** Retweets **183** Quote Tweets **11.2K** Likes

* * *

* * *

ArsonIsOkay(ASmolPyromaniac)  
Replying to @ashweta

love that for you <3 i think you’re in the same group as me for the project, so can’t wait to see what happens next

6 2 3

* * *

ConfusedPanromantic  
Replying to @emphasisonthemaniac

Dude, no, why would you say that, you’re going to jinx us-

7 4 5

* * *

ArsonIsOkay(ASmolPyromaniac)  
Replying to @ashweta

knock on wood? *shrugs* i hope that works

4 3 7

~*^*~

While #juneandnorasimpnation became trending on Twitter, Alex was still holed in his room nearly 3 hours after class had ended and their group had finally agreed to do their project on Odysseus due to him being the only Greek with any brain cells left (“Brain cells were a rare commodity in ye olde times of the plague,” Alex defended). To say that Alex spent the next few hours detailing a bulleted list of the reasons why he disliked Henry was an understatement. 

“Woah, that’s one hell of a list,” June leaned over, squinting at the screen.”Are you sure that those are meant to be insults though?” 

Nora leaned behind June. “June’s not wrong, you sure this isn’t just some elaborate scheme to compliment him into submission or…”

Alex let out an idiginent huff. “Yes, I am sure! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a dare to complete, and an annoying prince to prove wrong.”

Of course, the actual document, totalling about 20 pages in a neat list with 5 sections each with varying subsections, was not the genuine reason Alex hated Henry. It was a watered down version meant to not reveal his true intentions, his doubts. Oh, the woes of being a narcissist whilst having crippling self doubt. 

Alex minimized the PDF of “A Detailed List of the Reasons I Dislike Henry,” staring instead at the Canvas module detailing the “Ancient Civilizations Hot Takes” project that was worth essentially their entire grade for that class. He thought back to when he was in high school, how he’d constantly had an overwhelming necessity to finish projects like this one as quickly as possible. How he’d annoyed the hell put of his group mates by finishing the projects the first day he’d gotten them. 

Alex had a similar urge now, the overwhelming necessity to contribute something, anything, to this presentation. Alex let out a begrudging sigh, stretching his limbs for what he knew would be a long night of research. And so, he did, spending the next few hours creating a list of potential hot takes on gifted kid burnout Odysseus of Ithaca. Before he knew it, it was nearly 7 and Alex could feel his eyes nearly bleeding. 

~*^*~

Alex was beginning to consider sending the document through the Zoom chat was possibly the stupidest idea he’d ever had, and, as Nora would happily remind him, he was an expert on having no common sense. He only tremendously thanked his professor for highly suggesting (i.e. forcing) each group to exchange numbers beforehand. He'd cleverly nicknamed them as well (Plausible Deniability, Prince Dickhead, and Slightly Illegal), a feat which Alex was quite proud of. 

Alex took a moment to send out the quick wish that Zarah and his mom wouldn’t commit homicide. 

He may or may not have crashed the Zoom meeting by sending too large of a file while Alex was switching between bickering with Henry and discussing ideas for the group project. It may or may not have crashed the entirety of Zoom. As in, all of it. The tabloids ate it up, of course, having been reporting on nothing but coronavirus updates and the latest abnormality in the clusterfuck that was 2020. So here he was, with a group project to complete over text and FaceTime, respectively, and another international scandal on his hands. 

“Look, Alex, hon, I know you’re not trying to, but must you keep endangering foreign relations?” Ellen looked up from the tabs of news articles open on a tablet, her hand on her forehead. 

The title “Alex Claremont-Diaz Breaks the Internet” shone at him from the screen. 

Alex tried to shoot her a winning smile. “You know, not much has happened this past month; I thought I could spice things up a little.” 

Zarah crossed her arms at that, sending him a death glare that would have ended him if it were lethal. “I hope you realize that I could send you off to Antarctica at any minute, are you sure that’s what you want to say?” 

He opened his mouth before closing it again. 

Alex had done many horrible things that had gotten him in the tabloid during his mom’s presidency- his teens were especially hellish. But he hadn't done anything so internationally damning since before this year. 

“Look, here’s what we’re going to do,” Ellen pushed a familiar folder towards him. It was the same one he would have had to sign back in January after Cakegate, a contract detailing the fake best friend ploy that expertly averted through means of pandemic. “Because of corona, we can’t just send you off to England, so you’re going to have to keep a high media presence with Henry over the next few weeks. There’s a schedule detailing all the interviews and live shows you’ll have to attend for the next week. Understood?” 

Unlike last time, Alex didn’t protest. There was really no point in it. Instead he shot Zarah and his mom a quick smile, sending a playful salute. 

“You got it.”

~*^*~

ConfusedPanromantic  
@ashweta

Remember the knock on wood??? iT DIDN’T WORK

10:19 AM · June 24, 2020

* * *

**18** Retweets **19** Quote Tweets **380** Likes

* * *

* * *

ArsonIsOkay(ASmolPyromaniac)  
Replying to @ashweta

ahhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

9 8 4

* * *

Alex Claremont-Diaz  
Replying to @ashweta

I DIDN’T MEAN TO BREAK THE INTERNET, I SWEAR 

5 3 4

~*^*~

TheRealPotato  
@aleyaziena

Dude, I had a test next period so id just like to thank Mr. Claremont-Diaz for this scandal-

11:27 AM · June 24, 2020

* * *

**21.5K** Retweets **932** Quote Tweets **92.8K** Likes

* * *

* * *

TotallyNotAJuneAndNoraSimp  
Replying to @aleyaziena

Bruh, homeboy Alex out here saving millions of zennials, his service is thoroughly appreciated

5 4 7

* * *

ConfusedPanromantic  
Replying to @aleyaziena 

Wait... WAIT... YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT ALEX FROM MY HISTORICAL RESEARCH CLASS IS THE FSOTUS?! AND NO ONE TOLD ME?!!!

8 3 2

* * *

IDontKnowWhatToDo  
Replying to @ashweta

Wait til you find out about Henry-

2 2 2

* * *

Visco  
Replying to @100%ajuneandnorasimp

And I oop-

1 7 4

* * *

TotallyNotAJuneandNoraSimp  
Replying to @sksksks

Now, was that really necessary? I thought the Visco thing died. You know, natural selection and all that

2 6 8

* * *

Visco  
Replying to @100%ajuneandnorasimp

Okay, first off, yes, it was absolutely necessary, and second, Viscos will never die skskssksks

1 7 4

* * *

TotallyNotAJuneandNoraSimp  
Replying to @sksksks

For the love of-

5 9 3

~*^*~

Another day had passed, Alex creating a mental list of the tasks he had to complete before the month was over. 

One. Finish their Ancient Civilizations project. 

Two. Pretend to be Henry’s best friend for social media. 

Three, Attend interviews to ensure the public that the UK and the US still had close relations. 

Alex took a breath. He could do this. 

Shaan Srivastava, Henry’s equerry, had emailed Alex a copy of an NDA, a document which Alex had procrastinated signing in favor of planning out his group project in a shared Google Drive. Eventually, he did sign the NDA, having finished planning an outline of the whole project. 

A buzz from his phone brought Alex out of his thoughts. 

2020: It Sure Was an Odyssey  
  
Plausible Deniability  
Hey guys, this is ashweta from the group project and I was wondering when we can FT to finish narrowing our topic and begin outlining some things. I was thinking something along the lines of Odysseus being a bicon ‘cause that kid radiated gifted kid burnout energy  
Slightly Illegal  
yeah, I like that idea!! Though I think alex already began outlining stuff lmao  
Yeah, I’m down for that  
  
Prince Dickhead  
That sounds like a good idea. Should we meet up tomorrow evening to figure the rest of this out?  
Slightly Illegal  
cool, sounds like a plan, my dudes  
Plausible Deniability  
I should be free then  
See y’all there  


[ _2020: It Sure Was an Odyssey ___

__Ashweta: Hey guys, this is ashweta from the group project and I was wondering when we can FT to finish narrowing our topic and begin outlining some things. I was thinking something along the lines of Odysseus being a bicon ‘cause that kid radiated gifted kid burnout energy_ _

__Arson: yeah, I like that idea!! Though I think alex already began outlining stuff lmao_ _

__Alex: Yeah, I’m down for that_ _

__Henry: That sounds like a good idea. Should we meet up tomorrow evening to figure the rest of this out?_ _

__Arson: Cool, sounds like a plan, my dudes_ _

__Aahweta: I should be free then_ _

__Alex: See y’all there]_ _

Shutting off his phone, Alex proceeded to contemplate his life, all the choices that had led him up to this moment. Alex rolled out of his chair, reaching for his phone only to find that there was one last text he hadn’t read. 

____

It was from Henry, a picture of Achilles in battle followed by the text _This you?_

____

Alex texted back; _If by that you mean handsome and a great warrior, then yeah._

____

The response didn’t come quickly, an hour passed before Henry had seen the message and typed back, _I was thinking more stubborn than handsome warrior, but go off, I guess._

____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank y'all so much for reading! It was so much fun to explore how the characters would function after the 83948 years of 2020. I hope y'all liked it!


	2. Press Tours: The Pining Strikes Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Alex and Henry’s post Cakegate press plans are now pandemic friendly and Henry becomes the very definition of gay panic. Henry isn’t very subtle, but Alex continues to be an oblivious idiot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starring:  
> My Coding Skills (a.k.a. Copy Pasting Base Code From Ao3 Coding Guide)

Henry fully blamed the pandemic for most everything that had happened in the month of June;  the dare, his underestimation of Alex's spite, and the Zoom server crash which forced all members of that Historical Research class to work through private messaging. It had to be someone’s fault. I mean, it was just one too many disasters. And they weren’t fucking done. The post-Cakegate plans for him and Alex were now pandemic friendly. Yay. Just what he needed, more time with the one boy he was very high key crushing on, who probably hates him. Speaking of which, their Historical Research group was meeting up in a few minutes to discuss the project. As much as Alex annoyed him, the other two seemed alright. He thinks their names are Arson and Ashweta.

The four of them spent a grand total of 3 minutes just staring at each other in silence. Arson was the first to talk. “Hey guys, what’s up?” 

“Eh. stuff,” was Ashweta’s only reply. She cleared her throat. “Anyway, how does the idea of doing the project on bi Odysseus sound?”

Henry finally decided to speak up. ”I quite liked it. It’s really creative and unique”.

“As much as I hate to agree with Henry, I like it too,” Alex said. God, he was so irritating and absolutely gorgeous. As for him? Very fucking gay. 

He hadn’t even realized that he zoned out staring at Alex for a solid few minutes. And yes, he would admit that it was slightly creepy. In his defense, time is not real and Alex had the audacity to be like _ that.  _ Somehow, Alex was still droning on. “-think we found our slideshow template. Art deco it is, folks.” He was met with Henry’s blank stare. “ No objections, Your Royal Highness?” Alex questioned. Henry could only shake his head.

“Right, that’s decided. Is there anything else we need to do or are we done for today?” asked Arson.

“No, that should be it,” said Ashweta. They all proceeded to say goodbye and Ashweta and Arson left.

And then there were two. More awkward staring ensued and neither of them seemed to be willing to speak or leave. Alexander Claremont-Diaz was staring right into his soul. After just a few seconds of this, Henry started sweating and he left the call as fast as he possibly could. Hopefully, that was the last time he’d have to think of Alex until the first Zoom interview that they had scheduled a few days from then.

~*^*~

As it turned out, the call was, in fact, not the last time that Henry found himself thinking about Alex. To be honest, he probably thought about Alex way more than he probably should have. And yes, Henry was aware that it was a problem. 

Someone knocked on his door. He jumped, but this effectively stopped his train of thought. “Go away, Philip.” He said.

“It’s actually me,” corrected Bea. “Your amazing older sister?”

Henry grinned. “Come in then, dear sister.” As she came in, he noticed that Bea was all dressed up in a lavender dress for reasons that he didn’t know. So he asked her. “Why the dress, Bea?”

“It’s all quarantine. I haven’t had many excuses to dress up lately.” she promptly replied as she joined him on the bed. “But enough about me. Pez says that you like someone. Spill.”

Henry feels his face going very red. “I- it’s not like that.” He saw Bea start to object and contradicted himself. “Even if I did, well, you know...” 

Bea nodded understandingly. “I get it. But are you willing to tell me who it is? Our sweet Auntie Pezza wouldn’t say.”

He took a deep breath, “Uhhh, it may or may not be a certain First Son of the United States.”

“ALEX? HOLY SH-” Bea gasped. “You weren’t kidding about the problems bit.”

“I know,” Henry said miserably.

“Do you know what you’re going to do about it?” she asked.

Henry’s current plan for dealing with the whole Alex situation was actually advice from an extremely wise man. He was going to keep all his emotions bottled up, and one day, he’d die. The idea was from the one known as John Mulaney. But it’s not like he could tell Bea that.

Somehow she knew. “You have no plan,” she pointed out. The siblings sighed in unison.

~*^*~

The day of the first interview with Henry and Alex had Henry pacing around his room in a suit he hadn’t worn in weeks. His laptop was set up in a corner where the angle made his room actually look neat. The Alex fact sheet from the Claremont administration was strewn across his bed. Not that it was important. It probably had the same amount of bullshit that his sheet contained. 

This was insanely nerve-racking. Sure, this was so easy. All he had to do was do an interview with his crush who just so happened to be the FSOTUS who is also his self-declared nemesis. 

It’s okay. Everything’s fine. He’s just got to smile and pretend like he knows what he’s doing. This wasn’t by any means a new thing to Henry. But it never got any easier. If anything, it’s harder now. 

The join meeting button popped up and he took a deep breath. He pressed the button. Henry smiled in a way that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

He was greeted by a seemingly cheerful journalist with bubblegum pink hair. “Hello! My name’s Jocelyn. And I’m here. With Prince Henry and the First Son, Alex.” That’s when Henry realized that Alex was already there. He actually needed someone to point that out for him. “How are you today?” Joselyn asked.

“I’m doing well, Jocelyn. Thank you for asking.” Henry replied, ever the picture of elegance and grace.

“I’m as well as someone could be in quarantine. Yesterday, June had to actually restrain me from breaking a vase just so I could put it back together.” Alex laughed with such confidence that Henry did the same. One would think that he’d done this a million times. His smile was so bright and comforting and Henry was absolutely melting. What idiot had actually that he, a sad, gay disaster, could actually make it through this interview? 

Oddly enough, Henry doesn’t remember the rest of the meeting. It was all a blur of laughter and one-sided adoring gazes. The questions and the answers? He was too drunk on Alex’s smile for anything else to matter. He’d probably answered some questions with shitty responses that he might get talking to for. But in the moment, that was nothing. 

~*^*~

“So...” Pez tried to continue the conversation that they’d been having on FaceTime.

“So?” Henry questioningly repeated.

“So, the Claremont-Diaz siblings, huh?” said Pez.

Henry sighed and then he nodded. “Mhm.” Wait a second, did he understand that right? “Hang on, you mean June?” 

“No, it’s Alex.” At Henry’s shocked face he replied with, “Of course I mean June, you dumbass. Now the real question is, why did you fall for Alexander, of all people?”

“Gosh, Pez, I wonder why I would choose to fall for one of the only people on this fucking planet who could make my life even more difficult,” Henry snapped. “And even if, by some miracle, the relationship wouldn’t be a problem, it’s not like he’s going to have feelings for me.”

“Don’t lose hope, young one. The universe has an odd way of working itself out. Trust your dear, old Auntie Pezza,” said Pez. 

Sometimes, Henry worried for the sanity of his best friend. This was absolutely one of those times. The universe? Working itself out? That didn’t seem true. The universe, if it was an entity, wasn’t kind or merciful. It never had been, at least not to Henry. He didn’t understand what Pez had meant, but maybe one day, he would. If he was lucky.

“Yeah sure, Pez,” Henry didn’t believe him, but he didn’t need his friend's concern. So he changed the topic. “But enough about me, what’s going on between you and June?”

Pez’s eyes lit up as if this is what he had been waiting to discuss this whole time. “Dude, I don't know what it is about the Claremont-Diaz charm, but I have fallen hard for June. Also, if anyone doesn’t have a chance with the person they like, it’s me. She hasn’t said anything, but I’m pretty sure June and Nora are dating. I mean, I could ask Nora, but she’s fucking terrifing. And kinda cute too, if I’m being honest.” 

“Well then,” Henry said, picking up a glass of water. “I’m going to ignore that last bit and move on.”

~*^*~

It had been roughly 102 hours since Henry had last seen or talked to Alex. Not that he was counting or anything. For some reason, this made him very upset and he spent most of his weekend moping around. Although, whether that was because of Alex or quarantine was debatable.

Henry decided to use all this extra time to be productive and work through some project kinks. Okay so, the topic and slideshow were decided on and locked in. Arson was in charge of the slideshow while Ashweta and Alex were to research. 

They gave Henry the job of writing the presentation script. He realized that it meant there wasn’t really anything he could do at the moment. Henry got out his phone to text the group and ask them if there was anything he could do. Then, he remembered that he actually had Alex’s number. So why not text him?

Alex Claremont-Diaz <3  
  
Hey Alex  
  


Honestly, why is texting the guy you like so fucking difficult. It was two words, one message, but so much stress. And- OH MY GOD. He actually responded.

Alex Claremont-Diaz <3  
  
Hey you. What’s up?  
  
Nothing really. I was bored and wondering if you wanted to FaceTime? You know, to discuss how this whole fake friendship thing is going to work.  
  
I’m bored too. Let’s do it.  
  


Oh god, he didn’t actually expect that to work. Henry wasn’t ready for this, but it was too late to back out now. He had just steeled himself and got ready to call, when his phone started buzzing. Alex was calling him, and Henry wasn’t prepared for that. So, he panicked and threw his phone across the room.

In Henry’s defense, he didn’t talk to people that weren’t family, Shaan or Pez very often. However, him throwing the phone did not stop it from buzzing. He’d have to answer the call. Despite that, Henry crept across his room at a pace that would make a sloth proud. Purposeful avoidance. By the time he got to his phone, Henry had two missed FaceTime calls from Alex. And a message.

Alex Claremont-Diaz <3  
  
Dude, what the hell?  
  
Sorry. My phone seems to be acting up. Can we zoom instead?  
  
You’re giving me war flashbacks. But fine.  
  


So, Henry pulled out his laptop and sent Alex the Zoom code. He sat there staring at his own image on the screen for a minute. Eventually, Alex’s name appeared next to his and his face replaced it soon after. The two of them just stared at each other and felt awfully reminiscent of the last time they were alone in a call. Henry thought that he might actually leave again.

Until, of course, Alex broke the silence. “You know, you’re being weirdly friendly as of recently. And I can’t help but think it’s a trap of some sort,” he said with a smirk. “Any ulterior motives, Princey?”

Henry coughed. “Yes, well. I don’t have any hidden motives. But this whole rivalry thing was getting a bit old. I’m also committing to this whole fake friend thing.” 

Alex raised an eyebrow. “You can’t really expect me to believe that. It’s a good enough explanation for now, though.” 

“Alex, what are you doing?” 

“You, fake buddy,” Alex smirked, pulling out his phone, “are going to be on my TikTok.” 

Henry sighed, pressing the heel of his palm to his face. “Not you too, Bea and I have been obsessed with that app for ages. It’s become rather big a problem.” 

“Dude, you’re on TikTok?! My respect for you would have increased so much if I knew you had a TikTok! Drop the @.” 

Henry shook his head while smiling. “It’s @tired!inapandemic. Now can we move along with the video or…”

“Right, of course. Nice Panic! reference, by the way,” Alex pulled up the audio, mischief gleaming in his eyes. 

TikTok ID: 

[The audio, “I ain’t never seen 2 pretty best friends,” began playing. 

From a Zoom screen, Henry’s eyes widened in recognition. 

“It’s always one of them gotta be ugly.” 

Alex and Henry immediately point to each other, both giving the other a look of betrayal upon seeing the results.

The video cuts out, the handle @beloved_claremont-diaz flashed across the screen.]

“All in the first take, too. Nice,” Alex said as he was doing something on his phone. “Anddd published. It’s on the internet forever now. No take backs.”

“Great. You just had to make me nervous about that.” 

Alex just grinned “Yeah, sorry about that. We have another interview in a couple days. You ready for it?”

“Eh. Can you ever really be ready for those?” Henry asked.

“That’s fair,” Alex agreed. 

“ALEX!” A voice shouted from Alex’s side.

“Heh. That’s Zarah. And I don’t know what I did, but I should go. This was fun. We should do this again sometime.” Alex gave him a two-finger salute, then winked and just like that Henry was left staring at his own face again.

Did he just- Did Alex just  _ wink _ at him? Henry felt his face start to heat up. Didn’t he also say that hanging out with Henry was fun? Oh, the  _ audacity _ . I mean, it’s not like Henry had been very subtle about his crush. 

~*^*~

Another day, another interview apparently. Henry didn’t understand why everyone was so determined to stick their hands into his business. It would be great if people could just leave him alone, but that’s a privilege that he simply didn’t have. Henry’s sole comfort was that Alex was going to be there. He usually had to do this alone.

This time, Alex was there before him. There was a journalist already there too. Honestly, with her wire frame glasses, dark hair and a trench coat indoors, she was just out there living out all of Henry’s academia dreams. “Hello! My name’s Calliope and you guys are stuck with me now. Anyway, we’ll start the interview in a few minutes. So y’all can chill for a bit.” She said

“Alright, cool,” said Alex.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, a pink-haired person walked in behind Calliope and she saw him and waved. Caught by surprise, Henry waved back hesitantly and saw that Alex was doing the same. He could only assume it was Jocelyn, seeing as the hair color was so distinctive. However, wasn’t this interview with an entirely different company? He thinks that they were at Calliope’s place, which could mean that they were roommates. 

That was until, “Jocelyn, love, what are you doing? You’re going to get me fired,” Calliope sighed. _ Oh.  _ That’s when Henry got it. 

“Ugh, fine, I’ll leave.” Jocelyn put her hands on her hips, “But I will be back. You can’t get rid of me that easily.” She proceeded to basically skip out of the room.

Calliope looked back at us. “Sorry about her. Are you ready to start?” Henry nodded in response. “Okay, cool.”

Henry saw the little recording button pop up on his end. “Hello, world! Calliope Bennett is back at it again. This time with Prince Henry and First Son Alex.” Henry and Alex smiled and waved. “So despite what we had all originally thought, these two don’t hate each other’s guts. And now we’re all eager to learn more. So tell me, when did you first meet?”

“2016 in Rio, I think. For the Olympics,” Henry said.

“It would be an understatement to say that we didn’t exactly get along instantly.” Alex added. It took Henry a second to catch onto what Alex was doing. He was crafting more intriguing storyline told in partial truths. 

Henry nodded along. “Though it is difficult to dislike Alex for long. He’s just so charming, in the same kind of way a golden retriever is.” Alex grinned in response.

They went on like that for a bit. Calliope asked mundane questions and Henry and Alex responded with what they were told to say. Back and forth.

Then she asked the 75,000 dollar question. “Mhm-hm. Okay so, what really happened with Categate?” Calliope asked. Honestly? Henry didn’t even really know what had happened. After trying not to melt into a puddle while talking to Alex, everything kind of blurred together. They were fed an answer, but Henry felt that it was Alex’s turn to explain. And he’d probably get it. So far, Alex hasn’t been the type to stick to the script.

Alex took a breath and it seemed as if Henry was finally going to get answers. Alas, he’s never been that lucky. Alex opened his mouth as if to answer, but was interrupted by Calliope. “Wait. Don’t answer. I’m not sure if I actually want to know,” she laughed. That didn’t make sense. Wasn’t the whole point of these interviews to discuss Cakegate? “But I do want to know, what are your favorite memories together?” 

That was when Henry started panicking. Holy shit, what was he supposed to say? They hadn’t been prepared for this. Oh god.  _ Oh god. Oh- _

“Oh well, that’s a hard question.” Henry was grateful that Alex was going first, but he seemed just as lost as he was. “We’ve made so many good memories together. I don’t think I could choose one.” Even though he knew that he was lying, Henry could feel his face heat up. But that was a horrible slip-up. He had to fix this.

“I think mine might be this one time a few months ago. when the two of us were working on a project together and we got really distracted. We talked for hours on end, enjoying each other’s company. I think it was the first time that Alex and I truly connected.” That too was a complete lie, of course, but they didn’t need to know that. 

Calliope smiled softly and had a glint of emotion in her eyes. Henry couldn’t tell what she’d figured out, if anything, but if she knew something, he was royally fucked. No pun intended. “That’s everything. Thank you so much, you guys. Hang on a sec.” Another square popped up in the call, and Joselyn appeared. “Lyn, really?”

Jocelyn smiled cheerfully. “Yup.”

Calliope sighed. “Okay, but before you go, I need to talk to Henry real quick.” Henry’s eyes widened. She did know something. “Alex, are you cool with hanging with Joselyn for a bit?” Alex nodded in response. A few seconds later a breakout room invitation appeared and Henry nervously accepted.

Once he got there, Calliope stared right at him. He started to sweat. “So…how do you really feel about Alex?”

“Oh god, what do you know?”

“I guess what I’m trying to ask is,” Calliope said. “And you absolutely do not have to answer, Do you like Alex? In that way? Don’t worry, I wouldn’t tell anyone. ”

“I-” Henry felt there was no point in lying. “Yeah. It’s messy.”

“Oh,” was the only thing she said. “It seems like a disaster waiting to happen. “Do you know how Alex feels? Or if you have a chance?”

Henry sighed. “I haven’t asked, but it honestly isn’t looking that good for me. I’m doomed.”

Calliope nodded. “I thought as much. Look, dude, all I’m saying is that you never really know. I didn’t think I had any chance with Jocelyn, and look at us now. And I know I probably wouldn’t be of much assistance, but I could try to help.” She sent her number through the chat. “From one queer disaser to another.” They both grinned at each other.

~*^*~

A few days after he’d met Calliope, Henry had his group presentation on Odysseus. That was the previous day. In honor of the completion of the Historical Research summer class, they were having a class celebration, but it was, like 4am in the morning.

Professor Johnson was there already talking. Oh fuck, Henry was late. “-gonna put you all with your groups in breakout rooms.” It looks like he’d already missed the speech.

So, Henry joins the breakout room. “Well, look who finally decided to show up,” said Arson.

“We survived our first bit of virtual hell, you guys!” Ashweta cheered. “ And I hate to do this, but I have to go. I think Arson does, too.

“Wait no I don’t,” Arson looked slightly panicked. Henry could see Ashweta furiously typing something. “Uhhh. Actually, I, uh, think my mom’s calling me. I need to go too. I’m going to miss y’all.” 

“Right, okay. Love ya guys. Mwah. Let’s stay in touch, byeeee.” Ashweta waved goodbye. 

In unison, they all said, “Bye!” Then, Ashweta Mangal and Arson Beneventi left and that was the last he saw of them for a while. 

“And then there were two,” said Alex. Hang on-

“Did you,” Henry squinted at his laptop, “dye your hair?” 

Alex messed up his hair, which Henry was quite certain was a dark violet red. “No.” 

Henry smiled. “You did dye your hair!” 

Alex finally gave up pretending, crossing his arms. “In my defense, you would too if you completely drained of all emotion and nearly had a mental crisis over crashing a whole ass website.” 

“Dear god, Alex, coloring your hair unnatural colors,” Henry put a hand to his chest to add to the drama. “What’s next, a lip piercing? Whatever will my mum think about the sort of company I keep.” 

“Oh stop acting as if Bea hasn’t done something far worse than this before.” 

“Well, true, but it’s not as if I have the choice of not hanging around with her.” 

“Oh, fuck off,” Alex said, but he was laughing too. God, he was so gorgeous. They spent some time in silence, and for the first time, it was comfortable. So, Henry sat there, admiring from a distance.

“You know, I never did get that PDF, the one detailing all the reasons you hated me.” 

Alex let out a laugh. “Well, according to June and Nora, I was complimenting you more than anything.” 

They laughed for a while, simply enjoying each other’s company. It had felt like so much time had passed since either of them had been in the presence of another person. Their duty as respective sons of foreign nations was already an isolating task, but the loneliness grew tenfold during quarantine. Perhaps it was because, for the first time, it was alright to acknowledge it. For the first time, everyone was experiencing the isolation Henry had felt his whole life. Yet somehow, this was the least alone he’d felt in a long time.

It was Alex who broke the silence this time. 

“Do you regret it sometimes?” 

“Regret what?” 

“Never talking to each other, never wanting to see each other until it was too late?”

“Well, no. For one, you would have bit my head off if I’d have approached you before.” Alex smiled at that, a wicked grin that brightened every corner of the room.

“I mean, to be fair, I was pretty obsessed with you, you know how rabid fans can be.”

Henry smiled at that. “So you finally admit it.” 

“I admit to nothing.” A smile danced on both their faces. If he closed his eyes, Henry could still imagine it, the two of them, together, young and reckless. The sun in their eyes and wind in their hair, unbound by the world and all horrible things in it. Just two boys in love, lying in the grass, laughing and enjoying each other’s company. And they’d be happy. It was beautiful in every sense of the word, bright and filled with life. 

Henry knew that was a dream far out of reach. A mere fantasy he could only live through within walls. But for some odd reason, it didn’t feel like that in the moment. In a blurry haze, Henry said things that he might come to regret.

“Alex, I- I like you.”

As if to further his humiliation, Alex blinked and said,”Oh, that’s cool man, I like you too. We’re friends now.”

“ I meant, uh, in more than friends kind of way.” Then, Henry realized the true extent of what he had just said. Alex was staring at him, mouth agape and eyes wide. Henry started hyperventilating. Then, he panicked and left the zoom call. 

Oh my god, what did he just do? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank y'all so much for reading this!!! I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter!


	3. Of Elections and Rommates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex bi panics and colleges open up their campus. What could possibly happen then?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter stars (has images of):  
> Michael Cimino as Alex Claremont-Diaz  
> Random Covid Quarantiners as Alex Claremont-Diaz and Henry George Edward James Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor  
> Donald Trump as Donald Trump  
> Random Lady from a TV Show + My Beautiful Editing as Ellen Claremont-Diaz  
> Owen Patrick Joyner as Henry George Edward James Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor  
> and Misc. Memes as Twitter Profiles 
> 
> Guest Starring:  
> My Coding Skills (a.k.a. Copy Pasting Base Code From Ao3 Coding Guide)

Oh. Shit. 

Alex’s mind buzzed as if it had been microwaved twice before being put in the oven. He doubted he had the capability to form coherent thoughts at the moment; any brain cells that he’d had before were burnt away by the aforementioned microwave, He just sat there, shocked, not doing much, not moving an inch, simply trapped between his desk and chair, the laptop open to the private breakout room. Henry had exited the room before Alex could say anything, so here he was alone. 

Alex left the meeting before anyone could come to check on him. 

He hadn’t considered himself being anything other than straight his whole life, but the queasy feeling in his stomach was unmistakable. Alex hadn’t felt that in a while, hadn’t felt that since he was head over heels for Nora, when he had thought their relationship would last forever. Logically, he had known the relationship wouldn’t work out, they’d been too competitive for each other, a mirror of Alex’s own dysfunctional parental units. Anyway, what was the probability of 2 queer people to be in a relationship together (he fully blamed gay TikTok for that leap of logic)? 

For a brief moment, Alex actually considered asking his TikTok followers about the dilemma, legitimately shooting a video before realizing how stupid of an idea that was. Even if the majority of his followers had questioned his place on gay TikTok, Alex couldn’t risk the reelection campaign by pulling such a dumb move. 

He opened his phone absentmindedly, scrolling through the LGBTQ tag before landing on a couple of TikToks detailing people’s personal journeys, how certain movies, behaviors, butterflies helped them realize who they were. 

Thinking back, Alex remembered some odd things from his teens. He remembered spending late nights watching Brendon Urie’s Miss Jackson music video on repeat for no reason, spending hours rewinding clips to listen to Justin Trudeau speaking french, Liam. He remembered staring slack jawed at an impressive delegate from MUN who had promptly wiped out nearly all of the English army during the Wars of Scottish Independence crisis committee in his freshman year. But that still meant he was straight, right? It was all platonic, something every horny teenager did, right? 

He knew he liked girls, he knew he was attracted to them in every sense of the word. He had watched Titanic on repeat, purely for Kate Winslet and her beautiful smile. He had fantasized about being with girls, he had on multiple occasions, but that didn’t change the fact that he had fantasized about being with boys too. 

Alex began pacing on the carpeted floor of his room, too distracted to notice the tracks worn into its fibers. 

It was undeniable that the feeling of nausea he’d gotten familiar to when he’d had a crush before was still there, a steady thrill, when he thought of Henry. Henry with his kindness, his quiet charm, his infuriatingly perfect demeanor which Alex was starting to think was less infuriating and more attractive. 

Maybe straight people didn’t spend this much time (read: nearly 8 years) convincing themselves they were straight, but did they? Alex couldn’t shake the thought out of his mind, couldn’t help but feel like some kind of fraud. He knew that doing it for the attention was probably not the case, this could very well end his entire career, but was he? Was this just a giant ploy fabricated by his mind to sabotage the reelection campaign? 

Alex decided that he didn’t want to think about that at the moment, instead focusing on the campaign. He’d gotten a campaign job shortly before his graduation in February and had spent the next months drowning himself in analyzing the maps of states, looking into projections, etc. The Texas file that he definitely wasn’t supposed to have was hidden under other files in the top drawer of his dresser. The last election had been rough to say the least, Ellen barely squeezing out 270 electoral college votes. This time wouldn’t be any easier, and Alex was determined to help change that. Against all odds (he should really start getting used to that), Alex’s foolproof method for ignoring his problems had failed him. Instead, thoughts of the afternoon kept flooding back like a particularly persistent fungi. 

Three days had passed without much changing, Alex’s mind constantly wandering back to the confession that caused his Quarter Life Crisis. He fully blamed the pandemic for giving him far too much time to think about it. Regardless, Alex had come to the conclusión that: 

One. He found Henry attractive. 

Two. He was 48% sure he was not straight. 

Three. He was absolutely, catastrophically fucked. 

So, yeah, not the best thing to realize during his mom’s reelection. He needed, desperately to talk to someone, anyone about this. Henry was ghosting him, remaining quiet to the shit ton of texts Alex’d sent him. June...he couldn’t talk to June. No matter how supporting she would be to this predicament, Alex felt odd about talking to his big sister about this. He couldn’t explain it, it just seemed odd. When he’d finally settled on confiding with one of the only non straight people he knew, Ashweta, he’d come out of it with a clearer mind. 

~*^*~

Plausible Deniability  
  
Hey Ashweta, so, uh, I know this is a bit weird, but I was wondering how you found out you were pan  
  
Well, there was a whole thing that happened in my freshman year where I realized I’d been crushing on my enby best friend ‘cause I’d had an odd reoccurring fantasy of us getting married  
  
Out of curiosity, why do you ask? Did Henry finally confess his undying love to you?  
  
...Well  
  
No really?!! Fbejjdjendjd finally, the past month of pining and couple banter has been resolved (at least partially)!!!  
  
Ghjrbrjrbejz I’m still trying to figure out if it was pining or not, but go off, I guess  
  
Anyway, thanks for the advice  
  
No problem, my man, ‘tis not like Henry or Arson would recognize the subtle differences of brown gay panic  
  
Look, I love them, but you right  
  


~*^*~

Yeah, maybe he did like Henry, and Alex knew he was intentionally avoiding him. But Henry couldn’t hide forever. 

So the moment UT had opened its campus’ to offer either online or in person classes, Alex had jumped at the opportunity. After the months he’d spent texting Henry, Alex knew he’d choose to leave Kensington given the choice. Henry hadn’t exactly been quiet about his complicated relationship with his family, and neither was Alex. At least for Alex, he’d spilt so many facts he’d been unwilling to share with anyone before that he was certain that Henry knew him better than anyone else, so of course he knew Henry was coming to UT. 

Besides, the election was drawing close, so this would be a good opportunity to do some hands on campaign work in Texas. Somehow, he’d managed to convince the Claremont Administration to focus their campaign on Texas along with Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. 

And that’s how Alex ended up on a plane back to Austin in the middle of a pandemic. He’d taken all online classes, of course, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to risk 2 weeks of self quarantine to confront Henry. 

It would be 3 weeks of being holed up in his small apartment near the west side of campus, beginning his first year of law school. He’d figured that a couple more years of schooling could only help further his dreams of being the youngest Senator. Anyways, with the mind numbing global pandemic still in place, Alex thought that he could handle being on his mom’s campaign while still at school.

So there he was, on a cold (read: a solid 65°F) October afternoon, masked and ready to face the grocery store after putting off restocking the fridge for the 5th time that week. He wasn’t sure if it was his Mexican blood or his Texan blood, but Alex was rocking a relatively thick fleece coat to keep out the cool breeze. And that’s when he ran into none other than the person who’d sent him into an identity crisis from the months of July to September. HRH Prince Henry George Edward James Rupert John Louis Too-Many-Fucking-Middle-Names Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor. He had the absolute audacity to show up, in the US, with his hair perfectly tousled, in a plain gray sweatshirt and jeans and a matching gray mask. 

He honestly looked normal. 

Without another thought, Alex yanked the goddamn prince of Wales towards his apartment, throwing open the door when it came in sight. 

Henry, having gathered his bearings, looked at Alex. “Alex, what the actual fuck?” 

“Get in here, you ass.” 

“But corona-” 

Alex whipped his head toward Henry. “I couldn’t give less of a fuck about corona right now, we can quarantine for 2 weeks later, you don’t get off for what happened in July that easy.” 

He kicked the door shut, Henry still in shock at the entryway. Riding the adrenaline forward, Alex marched on, grabbing a fistful of Henry’s gray sweater in his hand. The masks were off before either could say a thing. 

And then Alex kissed him. 

For a brief moment, he wondered if he’d miscalculated, if the whole confession from July had been mistaken for romantic when it was, in actuality a platonic thing. But then Henry kissed him back, and it was  _ everything _ . It was the feeling of summer rain after a week of the dry Texas heat. 

~*^*~

Alex and Henry had decided to quarantine together after that, given the fact that neither of them wanted to (a) contaminate Henry’s roommate and (b) leave each other so soon. 

It wasn’t too different from their texts and calls that ran into the depths of night, expanding for hours on end. They’d gotten to know each other then, on far more personal of a level than pretty much anyone else. It was refreshing to have someone who knew him so well. And so, they were rooming together in domestic bliss. 

Alex shoved a waffle in his mouth whilst waiting for his 9am class to begin. “I’d like it to remain clear that I regret nothing.” 

“Of course you don’t, Alex dear, but you also didn’t regret arguing about the canonicity of Patrochilles on your TikTok that one time.” 

Henry had set up his own desk across from Alex’s, having requested that his roommate (who’d been properly NDA-ed, mind you) drop off his textbooks outside of Alex’s apartment. Aforementioned roommate also had made it explicitly clear that they didn’t want in on whatever scheme Alex and Henry had concocted, promptly stating that they’d rather not deal with international drama. Henry’s roommate was far more intelligent than either the FSOTUS or Prince Charming. 

Alex turns to face Henry. “I stood by it then and I stand by it now. Patrochilles was totally canon in the Illiad and anyone who says otherwise can fight me.” 

“They weren’t even disagreeing with you!” 

“Yeah, but they said that Homer didn’t show their canonicity in the Illiad,” Alex lets out a series of gestures, “but c’mon man! Achilles literally fought a river for Patroclus! That’s not very hetero of him.” 

“And I’m not disagreeing with you, but was that truly necessary?” 

“Yes.” 

The rest of the days followed similarly, eventually growing into the steady rhythm of banter and comfort and many  _ many _ kisses. Alex wasn’t complaining, it was nice to have Henry around. Had someone told Alex that he would be head over heels with the Prince of Wales before, Alex would have brushed it off as more fanfiction, but here he was. 

~*^*~

“June, pay up,” Nora yelled out to her right from the FaceTime call. 

Alex held up a finger. “Wait, you had a betting pool on if Henry and I would get together?!” 

He could hear June groan from off screen, handing Nora a ten. “I should’ve known better than to have bet against my supercomputer girlfriend,” June turned to face the camera. “And to clarify, it wasn’t about whether y’all got together, but more about when you got together.” 

Alex nodded before his brain caught up to him. “Y’all are dating?! And you didn’t tell me?!” He paused. “Y’all are assholes, but I do have to say, ‘my supercomputer girlfriend’ sounds like a Disney Channel Original movie.” 

“Direct to DVD,” Nora smirked. 

June rolled her eyes. “Love you too, Alex. And I’m sorry Nora, Pez, and I are more subtle than you, Mr. I’m-going-to-fly-to-Austin-to-see-Henry-because-he’s-been-avoiding-me.” 

“First of all, I take offense to that, anyone would fly anywhere during quarantine if given the chance. Second of all, you make a fair point.” 

June and Nora let out a laugh at that. 

“Moving on,” Alex pulls up Twitter on his laptop, “it seems like your stan Twitter hashtag, #juneandnorasimpnation, has made a resurgence.” 

“As it should,” Nora nodded sharply. 

June kissed the top of her head. “Anyway, with all the election campaigns we’re filming and the amount of election stuff coming out on Twitter, I’m not surprised. Young, marketable millennials, remember?” 

Right, the election. The metaphorical pain in the ass that had ruined Alex’s plans of focusing on his coursework since the end of October neared. The election of 2016 had been a close call, Ellen Claremont barely squeezing out 270 electoral college votes and winning the popular vote by a couple thousand people, successfully replacing George W. Bush as the president who’d won by barely reaching the minimum electoral votes. Presidential candidate Donald Trump with his nearly cult-like following had been underestimated, the margin of error rose to nearly 5% that year. He was running again this year and the entire Claremont Administration had been running themselves ragged with their reelection campaign. Alex had to admit, he may have not liked the guy, but he was intelligent; Mr. Trump knew how to gain the favor of people which simply added to Alex's anxiety about his mom’s odds of getting reelected, 

“-anyway, we should probably head out. Bye, Alex!” June was saying. 

“Bye!” 

~*^*~

The Washington Post  
@washingtonpost

Trump accuses President Claremont’s son of not taking COVID precautions in the first presidential debate.

9:26 AM · Sep 28, 2020

* * *

* * *

**23.3K** Retweets **924** Quote Tweets **72.1K** Likes

* * *

The New York Times  
@nytimes

FSOTUS Alex Claremont-Diaz spotted with a college roommate leading to Presidential Candidate Donald Trump to call the Claremont Administration ‘hypocritical and therefore untrustworthy.’

9:38 AM · Sep 28, 2020

* * *

* * *

**23.3K** Retweets **924** Quote Tweets **72.1K** Likes

* * *

CNN  
@CNN

FSOTUS claims him and his roommate to have been negative on COVID testing to counter Presidential Candidate Donald Trump’s accusations.

9:42 AM · Sep 28, 2020

* * *

**23.3K** Retweets **924** Quote Tweets **72.1K** Likes

* * *

Buzzfeed News  
@BuzzfeedNews

Donald Trump accuses President Claremont and her administration of hypocrisy but wasn’t ready for her savage remark.

9:42 AM · Sep 28, 2020

* * *

* * *

**23.3K** Retweets **924** Quote Tweets **72.1K** Likes

* * *

~*^*~

ID of a TikTok found on @beloved_claremont-diaz’s profile published on November 2:

[Alex's apartment came into screen, a desk in view in the background with an open laptop on it. 

Holding a phone was Alex Claremont-Diaz, who began speaking. 

“Hey guys, I’d just like to remind all those here in the States to go out there and vote on. I know 2020’s been a tough year and it may not be the easiest to get out there now, but the numbers are close. Don’t forget that we’ll likely not find out who won on election night, there’s going to be a lot of fake news out there. Anyway, it’s up to y’all to determine who’s going to be your president for the next 4 years, your vote matters, guys.” 

The video cuts out, the handle @beloved_claremont-diaz flashed across the screen.]

~*^*~

Needless to say, the weeks leading up to the election weren’t the best for Alex. Henry, who’d been worried about Alex obsessively checking all the preparation that had gone into the campaign for any errors, had done his best to provide moral support, but there was nothing either could do now except see how the cards fell. 

By the time Tuesday had rolled around, Alex was constantly checking the results between classes, CNN was playing throughout all of this as Alex eagerly awaited the results. The first few states got called quick. Alabama. Mississippi. Louisiana. New Hampshire. New York. As the day grew long, more states got called, but nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Texas- Texas was close switching from blue to red as the night went on. Alex just hoped that the campaigning had worked. 

Henry had been there through it all, gripping Alex’s hand as the results came out. 

On a particularly notable occasion, Henry had stated. “When the capital of the country favors a single party significantly, you know there’s a problem.”

Alex smiled at that. “When the aforementioned capital of the country has voted for a candidate in the same percentage as an A in a class, you know there’s a problem.”

They’d laughed about it then, but Alex couldn’t shake off his worry. There were so many variables, so much potential for error. The 2016 election had been bad, too close for comfort, which had left them all worried about how this year would turn out. 

The second day rolled around with none of the anxiety from the previous day lessening, Ellen still 132 to 116 of the electoral college votes. Florida flipped from blue to red, leaving many astounded and some taking it as a bad omen for the Claremont Administration. Alex could imagine June anxiously awaiting the results not too far from here. Like most candidates, they’d come to Austin, their home, on election night, probably pacing the floors in the quiet apprehension that came along with this long election. They’d FaceTime (Zoom still brought far too many nightmares) as often as possible, but Alex and Henry still had classes to attend. Eventually, the undecided states dwindled, it was down to only a handful: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Ohio, Georgia, Nevada, and Texas. 

Alex couldn’t help but smile at that. They  _ still _ hadn’t called Texas. His heart warmed at the sight of his home still in a pale, robin’s egg blue. 

To calm his nerves, Alex scrolled through his TikTok feed and, despite all the stress, let out a light laugh at the memes. 

Another day passed, North Dakota elected a dead man to Congress, and Alex was still worried. I’d gotten a bit repetitive, the constant anxiety, but it was still there, an ever present spirit as Alex continuously checked the results. HIs veins felt as if fire were running through them, a constant itch to check if the AP called any other state. 

Alex looked up from his phone, a smile brightening his face. The Claremont Administration had stolen Arizona, Georgia and Nevada andTexas were both leaning blue as well. 

The week passed in a similar rhythm. It was Saturday, Alex doubted he’d gotten any sleep that night. Henry was still curled up in their bed, the soft rays of the sun outlining his high cheekbones. 

Without much else to do, Alex turned on CNN, brewing a cup of coffee that would soon find itself cold on the counter. The race was close, Nevada had been called for Ellen Claremont that night, much to the people’s relief, Georgia following suit. 262 to 238, the Claremonts still in the lead. 

And then, inexplicably, as the morning rays hit the small countertop Alex was seated on, the bright glow lighting the tips of Alex's red violet dyed hair, Texas flooded a beautiful, Lake LBJ blue. 

Alex let out a whoop, leaving his mug on the countertop. Henry had walked into the room, rubbing his eyes, his hair tousled from sleep. Alex rushed forward, tackling him while yelling. “Four more years!” 

“Huh?” Henry said, still disoriented from sleep.

Alex’s smile was blinding. “We won! Four more years of being the America-England power couple, whoo!” 

Henry’s eyes brightened in realization, pulling him into a hug once more. 

They’d FaceTimed the Claremont Administration as soon as they heard, heading out to meet with them at the Residence. The shouts and celebration could be heard from all over, masked celebrators flooding the streets. It felt like Austin had lit up into a little beacon of hope and joy and a bunch of other warm, comforting feelings. His mom had won, they were going to stay for another term. After nearly 5 days of obsessing over the results, it was over. 

Henry and Alex had sat together on the worn, leather couch in their apartment after the celebration died down. Alex couldn't help but feel giddy with excitement at the fact that this was finally over. He was scrolling down his Twitter page for the 28th time that hour when he unceremoniously burst out laughing. 

Henry leaned over. “Alex, darling, are you okay?” 

Without missing a beat, Alex handed Henry his phone, showing him the live coverage of what might be the most ridiculous event in American politics. Presidential candidate Donald Trump claimed to be holding a last minute press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel only to be rejected by their Four Seasons and instead hosting their press conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping. Next to a Crematorium and a sex shop. 

After the anxiousness of the election had faded, Alex guessed that something like this could be the universe’s way of saying they deserved a bit of laughter. 

“Look, sweetheart, I do admire the way the Trump Administration pulled this off, but c’mon, this shit’s actually ridiculous.” 

Henry sighed, but a smile was still on his face. “Ah, American Politics, I will never understand thee.”

~*^*~

“I don’t care what  _ Joanne _ said. What she said severely affected an already marginalized group, and I will throw hands,” Henry paced the room, almost as if daring the floor to form indents. He threw his hands up in resignation. “My mum convinced grandma dearest to not send me off to Albania and cover up my raging homo-ness with an elaborate scheme, Phillip is still an ass, I have nothing left to lose!” 

Alex, who’d now adopted the very queer dark academia aesthetic, was right behind him, pulling on a long, plaid trench coat. “I completely agree with you, but do you think there’s a less extreme method to help?” Alex paused. “Wow, is this what it feels like when June and Nora have to drag me out of a brilliant idea?” 

“I don’t think now’s the time to gain self awareness,” Henry stopped in his tracks, and Alex could almost see the idea forming in his head. “I think it’s time I gave Pez dear a well overdue call.” 

“Ugh, June and Nora have ruined my view of Pez, but I think I know what you’re thinking, and  _ I _ think it’s genius.”

~*^*~

“Are you sure you want to do this, Alex?” 

“Yeah, I’m certain.” 

The transition from November to December came with the ease of chilly winds. Surprisingly, it’d been Henry to come up with the idea first, to expose their relationship to the public, thinking it would be a good way to spread the word about their youth shelter which was opening right after they got COVID vaccinated. 

“We’re already living together, and anyway, this would be a good way to spite my grandma. Eat the rich and all that.” 

“You are a horrible influence on me,” Alex stepped forward, leaving only an inch of space between them, a smirk on his face. 

Henry smiled back, and in the light of the setting run, he looked absolutely gorgeous. “I’d argue that quarantine was a bad influence on us both and deserves all the blame, but go off.” 

Of all the things he’d decided to do, this was probably the one that took the most courage. And of course this moment would be forever documented in the form of a TikTok which was a bit ridiculous, though perhaps that was because it was a  _ TikTok _ . But anyway, who said TikToks couldn’t carry meaning? And with a final click, it was published. 

~*^*~

TikTok ID: 

[Alex is in frame. He wears a pressed button down and chinos, and is facing the camera, pointing towards something off screen.

The audio begins playing, “there he is-” The camera shifts to Henry at the other side of the room. The audio finishes the quote, “-that’s my favorite white boy.” 

Henry runs towards Alex and pulls him into a hug. 

The video cuts out, the handle @beloved_claremont-diaz flashed across the screen.

The text at the bottom of the screen states, “He colonized my heart <3 (P.S. All participants of this video have tested negative for COVID).” The top comment on the TikTok is about Alex and Henry’s shelter by the account @tired!inapandemic and additional information about it.]

~*^*~

ConfusedPanromantic  
@ashweta

YESSSS, FIRSTPRINCE IS CANON, BITCHESSSS!! I’VE LITERALLY HAD TO SIT THROUGH HOURS OF PINING AND OLD MARRIED COUPLE VIBES, SO Y’ALL CAN IMAGINE MY RELIEF GVJGHCJH

10:19 AM · June 24, 2020

* * *

**18** Retweets **19** Quote Tweets **380** Likes

* * *

* * *

ArsonIsOkay(ASmolPyromaniac  
Replying to @ashweta

YESSSSS

2 2 2

* * *

TotallyNotAJuneandNoraSimp  
Replying to @ashweta

OMGGGG, FINALLY!!!!

22.8K 28.3K 92.3K

* * *

Alex Claremont-Diaz  
Replying to @ashweta

I WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGIZE FOR THE ARGUMENTS, I WAS A LITTLE OBLIVIOUS BACK THEN

299.7K 298.3K 872.9K

* * *

Prince Henry of Wales  
Replying to @thefirstsonofawesome

Just a little?

388.9K 270.8K 927.7K

* * *

Alex Claremont-Diaz  
Replying to @KensingtonRoyal

Shut up

194.8K 194.9K 843.6K

* * *

Prince Henry of Wales  
Replying to @thefirstsonofawesome

Love you too

349.7K 294.5K 783.2K

~*^*~

“5...4...3...2...1...Happy New Year!!” 

The ball dropped, leaving Alex and Henry cuddled on the couch, kissing each other as if there was no tomorrow. They broke apart as Alex let out a whoop. 

“Fuck you, 2020, you were absolute shit!” Alex’s face was bright, his features lighting up with a smile. 

Henry turned to him, a smile of his own on his face. “Are you sure it was all shit though? I mean, getting away from having to spend every waking moment with your family is kind of nice.”

Alex shoved Henry playfully. “I guess it’s nice not being a million world’s apart from you.” 

Henry’s smile widened at that. “Did you just reference Dear Evan Hansen to me?” 

“...Maybe.” 

Alex glanced at Henry. The warm yellow light of their apartment caused the tips of his hair to glow, lighting his sharp, angular features. Alex couldn’t fathom how fucking lucky he was to be here; two people who’d somehow found each other in the worst year, making it better together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank y'all so much for reading this! It seems like just yesterday that this fic was being planned out in the notes app back in November during the US Presidential Election, screaming together that "This wouldn't have happened during Ellen Claremont's presidency!" It was a nice world to escape into, still close enough to our own 2020s, but simply a bit happier, a little less dark, a little more hopeful. And so, here it is, a fully written RWRB Zoom College AU after nearly 3 months of writing and editing. I hope y'all liked it, and remember, a new hope is on the horizon. 
> 
> Until next time, 
> 
> JustYourAverageNerd and TimeToTravel


End file.
